NASEO Newsroom

Pennsylvania Announces Planning to Boost Solar Energy Development

December 15, 2016

Governor Tom Wolf recently announced that a statewide planning project led by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will equip Pennsylvania to produce more solar energy and increase solar-generated in-state electricity sales to at least 10 percent by 2030. The project, called “Finding Pennsylvania’s Solar Future,” was selected for a $550,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

“This is an important step-forward for us to better understand how we can increase Pennsylvania’s solar footprint long-term, which will provide more options for consumers and decrease emissions,” Governor Wolf said. “Alternative energy and lower-emission fuels like natural gas will help to decrease the impacts of climate change, which we know will have negative impacts on our air, our health and important industries, including agriculture and tourism.”

The project will begin in January 2017 with a kickoff meeting composed of experts from local and state government, the solar industry, the utilities and transmission sector, environmental organizations, low-income advocacy groups, consumer organizations, and the business and academic communities as well as others interested in solar development and deployment.